BB Tour differences Sprint / Verizon

Hey folks,

I am making the plunge into the smartphone market for the first time. I had a Palm Pre for a short time, and while the software worked great for me, the phone was literally crumbling in my hand. Terrible terrible build quality. I had to return it.

Let me just say that, besides the worst customer service I've ever experienced, the Sprint network worked great for me for the short time i tried it. I'm currently on Verizon and have been for the past 10 years. No complaints.

Anyway, I've read a few posts that discuss how Verizon disables a lot of functionality on their phones and Sprint does not. What differences will there be between the Blackberry Tour on Verizon vs. Sprint? Will I be able to just add mp3s to a Verizon Blackberry or does it force you to buy music from Verizon's proprietary services? What else should I know?

Thanks

I think the main difference is that sprint doesn't have the fugly red UI that verizon has plus the bezel is silver instead of the dark chrome. Other than that, its the same thing.

There is no "fugly red UI". Any wallpaper or theme that Verizon preinstalls can be set back to RIM default with a couple of quick clicks.

There will not be many differences. Sprint's will come with their Sprint TV installed probably, and there's the black vs silver bezel thing. GPS will be open on both, and as with all VZW BlackBerrys, you won't encounter any problems putting your own content (wallpapers, music) on it.

I've heard that the Sprint Tour's GSM side will be unlocked out of the box, but a quick call to Verizon will right that for you, that is, if you even care about that particular feature.

It is not possible to state whether VZ will cripple the tour in any way as it has previous BB's, and the "unlocked" GPS is somewhat of a misnomer given navigation IS crippled and another $10/mo

From public information about plans:

VZ : 450 mins, ul txt & data $99
nights & w/e at 9pm
Navigation additional $10
no tethering support without fee or illegal "tetherberry"

Sprint : 45mins, ul txt & data $69
nights & w/e at 7pm
Navigation free
Tethering needs not even BB or sprint s/w.. simply works.

What IS fair to say is that there is certainly no risk Sprint will disable anything in their phone, given they have no history of such arrogance, nor try to nickel and dime you for services which should be free.. add to that a $40 savings on a basic BB plan and hopefully you can make your own rational conclusion.

Originally Posted by Noseeums

Hey folks,

I am making the plunge into the smartphone market for the first time. I had a Palm Pre for a short time, and while the software worked great for me, the phone was literally crumbling in my hand. Terrible terrible build quality. I had to return it.

Let me just say that, besides the worst customer service I've ever experienced, the Sprint network worked great for me for the short time i tried it. I'm currently on Verizon and have been for the past 10 years. No complaints.

Anyway, I've read a few posts that discuss how Verizon disables a lot of functionality on their phones and Sprint does not. What differences will there be between the Blackberry Tour on Verizon vs. Sprint? Will I be able to just add mp3s to a Verizon Blackberry or does it force you to buy music from Verizon's proprietary services? What else should I know?

Thanks

Having a good signal when you need or want it: Priceless

Originally Posted by Teksu

Having a good signal when you need or want it: Priceless

Which is something I get with Sprint, and since they roam on Verizon's towers, I get the best of both worlds.

The basic function will be the same, as to what VZW cripples, it is mostly speculation at this point. We will know more, very soon.


Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

OP did not ask for a Sprint advertisement ;)

The point is that there will be few, insignificant differences between the two branded devices. There is no "risk" of locked down features. People have this phone in their hands already and have confirmed what it's like. People have their own reasons for choosing their carrier. It sounded like the OP wanted to know if there's any reason based on locked-down features why staying on their current carrier would be a bad idea, and there is not.

Originally Posted by mystic205

It is not possible to state whether VZ will cripple the tour in any way as it has previous BB's, and the "unlocked" GPS is somewhat of a misnomer given navigation IS crippled and another $10/mo.

verizon unlocked gps a LONG time ago. i have used it on several devices (curve and storm). your info is incorrect.

i loved the garmin app on my storm because when you turn it sideways, it is about the same size as a stand alone garmin.

The GPS on the Curve 8330 is only "unlocked" for use with BBMaps. It still won't work with third party apps.

The Storm is different and reportedly the Tour will be fully unlocked as well.

And they did not unlock the GPS LONG ago. It was only unlocked on the with the release of the 4.5 version of the phone OS.

Originally Posted by Motorcycle Mama

The GPS on the Curve 8330 is only "unlocked" for use with BBMaps. It still won't work with third party apps.

It's unlocked on Sprint.